August 2005

~MICHAEL ARIAS/TEKKONKINKREET/MoMA

the following posts first appeared on the artlovers home page:
the week of APRIL 20TH, 2007

~JAN ALBERT, our movie reviewer wrote:
“Michael Arias’s labor of love, his first full length animation feature, which was produced in Japan, has its American debut at the Museum of Modern Art, Wednesday, April 25th and runs for a week. DON’T MISS IT –
it is an absolute stunner and a must-see for artists, animation, and movie fans,
of all ages.”

~ . . . upon seeing that statement, artlovers jumped up and caught the last 2 premiere screenings at MoMA, and was also able to score a few photos of the film’s director, MICHAEL ARIAS.
(with the absolutely divine intervention of fate – happening to cross paths with BARBARA LONDON, the very next night, at the 27TH STREET CHELSEA gallery openings – who in turn, set up the photo shoot.)

BARBARA LONDON is the Associate Curator, Department of Media, MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) and, the person responsible for bringing this remarkable film to
MoMA’s premiere series.

~artlovers posted the following – on the home page/MONDAY APRIL 30TH, 2007.

“If you like your ‘anime’ – Japanese style: straight up, totally poetic & cutthroat, all at the same time; visually stunning, and uniquely animated,
(just to note a few instances: . . really liked how the characters were set in motion at their ‘feet’ points; loved the dirty rain moisture on the abandoned car window, as it was rolled down; the apocalyptic ‘inner Minataur’ scene was a pure visual free-for-all, and I tumbled with it; . . and there were some striking ‘DICK TRACY’ – ‘NECKFACE’ type drawing flourishes on some of the bad guys . .. )
with a fast paced ‘street smart’ narrative and pinpoint sound effects – not to mention great music by PLAID – then, drop everything!! and get to MoMA – TONIGHT – MONDAY APRIL 30TH for the last advance screening (8:30pm) – otherwise, sorry to tell you, your next chance to view this artist-ruled MICHAEL ARIAS helmed feature will be the limited engagement commercial run – tentatively scheduled for mid-summer . . . and . . . if you’ve ever been called a “borderline autustic artist/savant” to your face – then WHITE is your BOY!.
“PLANET EARTH, this is Agent White: TRANSFORM!!”

“. . the flawless screenwriting by ANTHONY WEINTRAUB – shoots along at the same speed as the animation, yet captures all the poetic undertow of the characters – moving the storyline forward with absolutely the minimum amount of dialog, while catching the “TREASURE TOWN” street vibe – right on.”

~UP-DATE: POSTED – TUES MAY 1, 2007:

“the last screening: – the MoMA theater was packed with young professionals of all genres. the energy was intense & exciting and there was a wave of spontaneous clapping at the film’s conclusion.

BRENDAN O’CONNOR, a 3rd Year animation student at SVA (School of Visual Arts, NYC) whom, we meet as we left the screening – told us among other things, . . . 1. that TEKKONKINKREET wasn’t quote unquote “strictly anime” – (although anime seems to be evolving into a term more and more commonly used to describe all animation coming out of Japan), but a full-on true animation production; 2. that MICHAEL ARIAS wrote TOON SHADERS – his favorite animation code, in the MAYA system, and, 3. that he had seen the more commercially tooted PAPRIKA, also an animation feature just released out of Japan, and, in his opinion TEKKONKINKREET was the better film! ” . . .

Up-DATE: MAY 10, 2007:

the official website says the DVD will be released soon – !! – JUNE 27th !!!

. . . okay okay, artlovers being essentially paparazzi . . . . we couldn’t resist just one furtive shot at one of the screenings –
and surprise surprise we caught a frame right on – and its so ironic because it is one of the most fleeting and rare images in the entire movie – the love scene – between a gangster & his newly pregnant wife – and its. LITERALLY ! – the only 2 seconds of a female presence, any female presence – in what is, otherwise an entirely all male cast of characters. . her most poignant line; spoken just as her young husband gets blown away; and, in response to his telling her what to name the baby . . with his last dying breath, apparently a boy’s name – is: ” I would …. never have a boy.”